


Congruence

by dei-chan (skyvein)



Series: MakoRin Week 2015 [3]
Category: Free!
Genre: Cafe AU, College AU kinda, Haru owns a cafe~~, M/M, MakoRin Week, Me flailing with words, Slow Burn because Rin is shy, sliiiiight language
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-21
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-05-08 02:39:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5480180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skyvein/pseuds/dei-chan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rin doesn't want to brag, but he's seen the guy at least a billion times now – has met his eyes, a breathtaking green  juxtaposed against the whites of his sclerae – and it's all too good to just be coincidences. Also they like the same kind of cake. It has to be fate.<br/>//or//<br/>Some coincidences happen. And Rin skirts around his mega crush on Makoto for literally a year.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Congruence

**Author's Note:**

> TuT hey guys. Today is the last day of MakoRin week and dammit I'm only up til day 3. I'm sorry that this fic like mega late but I wrote this from scratch just yesterday afternoon on the train and it's shitty as heck so I'm really really sorry.

There's this guy in Haru's cafe.

The guy at the corner, with the rumpled chestnut hair and eyes like spring leaves, who stops outside the door to play with the kittens whenever he comes. The one who winces slightly whenever Haru's tacky dolphin wind-chimes sound in the breeze, who reads all afternoon, hides his laugh with a shake of his shoulders, and makes not a single sound more. 

Of course, Rin just happens to notice him. One too many times. It's not like he is staring or anything.

But this guy is there every morning, at nine o'clock sharp, and always at the last table to the right.

And _always_  alone.

He makes small talk with Haru sometimes, and that's pretty impressive since Haru is the very personification of 'fuck off'. It'd taken Rin three weeks to wheedle his name from him. With takeouts of mackerel as a bribe. (He'd thought he could get discounts after being on a first-name basis, but he should've known Haru was a miserable scrooge.)   

And, well, it's not like Rin watches him all the time like some creepy stalker, but this guy is really _beautiful_ —in a way that Rin hadn't ever thought possible for someone as muscular. Rin watches the way he seems to shrink into himself sometimes, like a silent apology for being there, eyes soft and green in the muted cafe lighting. His wind-combed hair, like a small disaster, has a tendency to flop over his eyes, yet he never makes a move to sweep them away, only tilts his head further down towards his book, the saddest of smiles on his face. 

Rin thinks he looks – lonely.

* * *

The first time it happens, it takes Rin entirely by surprise. 

That day, the cafe bubbles with lazy afternoon small-talk, sleepy in the warm heat of summer. Amongst the chatter, his eyes stray over to the brunette always by the corner.

Today, he looks happier, fuller—more alive. Rin can't explain it, but on some days he comes with his eyes full of cold, the diminuendo of his footsteps a little more weary, a little more tired. Today, he dresses in a cheery orange, bright against the sepia cafe background, and his smile is a little more genuine. Rin can tell.

And, well, he watches, like always. Watches how the male fumbles with his book when he tries to drink and read at the same time. On occasional pages he muffles a laugh, and it's endearing—it really is.

The afternoon sun paints the cafe in muted tones of powder pink and blush red, and on days like this, he is content with wasting his time here, studying be damned. He expects that the male will leave at six, just in time for dinner, the way he always does. What he does not expect, however, is how the brunette looks up halfway through his book, brushing his hair away from his face, and glancing around the cafe.

His eyes sweep the entrance and down, as if taking in a sight he'd never noticed was there. Rin wants to avert his gaze, but he's too late. 

Refulgent in the afternoon light, forest-green eyes zero in and stop right at him.

 _Fuck_. He grits his teeth, and it takes every fibre of his courage to not look away—but it's so utterly humiliating, how he's been caught staring like this. _Stay calm, Rin. Stay calm._  He repeats this like a mantra but it does not settle his nettled nerves at all.

Truth be told, he's always been someone on the outside, looking in – looking at _him_  – but never once did the people on the inside ever look back. Maybe this person did, for a while, but he knows it isn't bound to last.

Strangely, the male does not turn away. Rin thinks that he is disgusted, that he's bound to leave and never come back, or maybe he'd come over and slap Rin for being a fucking creep instead. But he doesn't. Only crinkles his eyes and smiles, mouthing a gentle 'hello'—and god, Rin's seen it a million times, that smile, but it looks infinitely better when it's for him. 

* * *

He finds out the name of the mystery guy eventually. With a little grudging help from Haru. Honestly, he considers this his biggest accomplishment in life so far, even ahead of that one time he dumped cake all over Haru's head. 

He'd gathered enough of his dignity one day to saunter over to the counter and ask, with as much nonchalance as he can possibly muster, "Oi, who is that?"

"Who is who?" Haru asks flatly, barely turning his head from the shortcake he's preparing, and Rin suppresses a cringe of exasperation.

"That. That guy you always talk to."

Haru's eyes narrow. "A friend. It's none of your business."

"I meant," Rin clicks his tongue impatiently, "what's his name."

"Find out yourself."

"If you tell me, I'll treat you to a nice meal."

"I run a cafe," Haru's tone dips into one that is mildly scathing. "I don't need you to treat me to a nice meal. I'd treat myself."

 _Well, that's a good point._  Still undeterred, Rin tosses out his final card, "I'll give you as much mackerel as you want for a month."

Haru's nose wrinkles slightly. "Is this the only thing you can bribe me with?"

"I'm not exactly creative. Is that a yes or a no?"

Haru looks up from his slightly-ruined shortcake, his frown considerably less disdainful. Rin takes that as a good sign. "As much mackerel I want, just for his name?" he clarifies, and Rin nods. 

"Well, yeah. And whatever else you choose to divulge, of course."

Haru shakes his head, like he is thoroughly disappointed with how absolutely _low_ Rin's sunken—and Rin can't blame him, really. "Tachibana Makoto."

(It's even worth the tiny smirk Haru gives him after, saying, "I'm going to bankrupt you, Rin.") 

* * *

Some days Rin doesn't dare to let himself hope.

Especially when he looks up occasionally from his drink, weary of staring at tables and listening to meaningless in-betweens of conversations, and catches the eyes of Makoto all the way from the corner. _How?_

Their eyes meet for a fraction of a second, sunset red against morning green, before Rin ducks his head back down, trying to stop himself from blushing so hard. From the corner of his eyes, he watches Makoto's lips form the beginnings of his usual 'hello', only to stop ruefully when he realises Rin's already looked back down. 

(Rin looks up again when he thinks no one is looking, but Makoto always is.) 

He's embarrassed, really, to have been caught staring all the time, but why would Makoto be looking at him as well?

Unless...

—no, it can't be. _It can't be._

It takes him weeks – all the way 'til autumn, in fact – to finally mouth 'hi' back, and he does it with his cheeks as red as the falling leaves outside, fingers crossed tight behind his back. Makoto's brilliant smile only gets brighter and brighter. 

* * *

"You're staring at someone~" Nagisa quips in a sing-song, eyes glittering mischievously from across the table.

It's winter when he introduces Nagisa to Haru's cafe, and as expected, the blonde falls in love immediately. He proves to be more skilled in wheedling Haru's name from him than Rin was, and makes a routine of dragging Rin over every day. He doesn't have to, honestly. Rin would've come back, Nagisa or no.

They're sitting at a proper booth this time, far away from Makoto, and Rin's a little disappointed. Nagisa won't stop chattering, and though Rin brought him over for some kind of whacked-up bonding, he's not that faithful a friend to actually spend a whole afternoon listening to Nagisa talk about his Rei-chan. (Those two are practically married at this point. All they need is the damn certificate.) 

"W-What?" Rin blinks, tearing his eyes away from Makoto, who is wrapped up in a cozy scarf at the corner, cheeks apple-red in the cold. 

"You. You're staring at someone. For the fifth time today." Nagisa leans in, a wicked look on his face as he drums his fingers against the table.

"Like hell I am." Rin splutters hotly. He can't be _that_  obvious, can he? Silently, he makes a note to be more discreet next time. Maybe with a pair of sunglasses...?

Nagisa lets out a gleeful chortle just as Rin peeks, from the corner of his eyes, at Makoto again. He's dropped his book on the floor, and it's a new title this time. The brunette bites a lip, scouring his surroundings to make sure no one's noticed, before bending down and dusting off the cover.

"Aha! I've caught you!" A triumphant voice interrupts his thoughts, loud and jarring and distinctly Nagisa.

Completely rattled now, Rin scowls. "What."

"It's him, isn't in?" Nagisa's face takes on a knowing smirk, and Rin suppresses the urge to throttle him with bare hands because murder is a crime and Nagisa isn't worth it. "Haru-chan's best friend."

"His name is Tachibana Makoto." Rin corrects irritably. Something about 'Haru-chan's best friend' ticks him off, and he can't figure out why.

(He can't be jealous. Of Haru? He can't be.)

Nagisa launches forward without a single warning, and Rin intuitively latches onto him, knowing that he's about to do something to completely embarrass them both.

"Let go, Rinrin! Lemme take a good look at him!" Nagisa demands, struggling against his arms as paper cups fly off the table. "I need to see if he's hot enough for you!"

" _Shhhh_." Rin hisses, shoving his head back down against the table, smacking him face-first into a spilled cup of latte. "Shut the fuck up before he turns around."

"You _want_  him to turn around." Nagisa sits back up, latte dribbling from his nose. He gives Rin a cheeky grin that has Rin reevaluating his friendship standards because at times like this, it's beyond him why he still puts up with Nagisa's shit. "You're done staring at his ass and now you want to stare at his face."

"…no."

"Yes." Nagisa corrects him confidently, in a tone that brooks absolutely no argument. "Also, that hurt. I didn't know snot-latte would taste so good though."

"YUCK. GET AWAY FROM ME."

* * *

To be honest, once he tells Nagisa something, it's as good as telling Rei too, because Nagisa cannot keep his mouth properly shut at times. 

The next week, he is confronted by the both of them. Rei has a look on his face that tells Rin plainly that he's been conscripted into this shit by Nagisa, and Rin feels his pain, honestly. 

Nagisa does not calm down for the rest of the day, squirming in his seat as he tries yet again to catch sight of Makoto. Rin does his best to block his view, but Nagisa is a slippery little thing and Rei is too busy trying to keep their drinks from spilling all over the floor to help.

"Rei-chan, look! It's him! Rinrin's eye candy!"

Rei gives Nagisa a disapproving look that was just barely hinted with curiousity. "I know. You told me." With this, he turns to Rin, fixing him with frighteningly serious eyes. "Rin-senpai. If you need any help wooing this person, know that I am always here for you."

If this is supposed to make him thankful and all that stuff, it doesn't. Instead, Rin just wants to cry, but he's too man for that. He settles with an angry huff and a defensive, "Just shut up, Nagisa. I don't even like candy. And no, I don't need any help, Rei." The latter is not really true, but if he doesn't put this idiotic conversation to an end, Nagisa being Nagisa might pester him to death and honestly, he'd like to be alive the day he gathers his guts to talk to Tachibana Makoto.

There is a muffled gasp of horror. "Rin-chan, how can you not like candy? You _monster!_ Just wait 'til I tell Mako-chan about your sins."

_Mako-chan?_

Deciding that he cannot do this anymore, Rin stands up, rubbing the bridge of his nose and hoping it might cool him down. At the far end of the cafe, Makoto turns around to stare at their commotion, brows wrinkled in concern, and for the first time in a long time, Rin looks away instead, hiding an immediate blush because it'd make everything worse. 

"Jesus, I'm done with the both of you."

Stalking out of Haru's cafe, he wonders why the fuck each conversation with Nagisa ends with a punch to his self-dignity. 

* * *

Spring is supposed to be a season of rebirth and new beginnings, but for him, he remembers it more characteristically as the season he discovers that Makoto's favourite cake is the only cake he tolerates in Haru's entire cafe.

And, for someone who doesn't particularly enjoy sweet stuff, it's saying a lot.

That triumphant discovery happens on a particularly foul day – after having picked a fight with a couple of punks hitting on Gou. On that crappy day, the scent of cherry blossoms in full bloom smells overly saccharin for his liking, and he winds up in Haru's cafe again, where the sickly-sweet smell is masked by Haru's confections. He's sporting a couple of light bruises (nothing he can't handle, really) and is about to rage-eat when he realises that the platter for lava cakes in the display counter is empty.

What the fuck. Haru used to reserve one for him every day— _what the heck happened to his good-friend privileges?!_

"Oi, Haru! Where's my cake?" Indignant, he strides over to the aforementioned male, scowling as he crosses his arms. Looking up, Haru's eyes widen slightly at his disheveled countenance, but Rin brushes off the questioning look with a huff. 

"You're late today." Haru finally speaks, sounding put-out. "I didn't think you'd come, so I gave it to Makoto. It's his favourite, after all."

"You gave my cake away?" Rin echoes with an air of pained betrayal. "You gave my cake away to some random person who—wait, what?"

"You're bleeding, by the way." Haru remarks, in a tone that tells Rin he's already lost interest in the topic of his beloved cake. "Stop making a mess on my counter."

Rin pointedly ignores his statement. "Makoto likes lava cake?"

Unblinkingly, Haru gives him a look reserved for idiots, before shaking his head like he's given up entirely on Rin's existence. "Yes. Now go away."

Grudgingly, Rin leaves to mooch in a corner. He hides a smirk when Haru comes back to dump a wet towel over his head, masking his obvious concern with an off-handed 'Don't bleed all over my cafe, idiot.'  

Heh, that emotionally-constipated little squirt did care. 

* * *

"You want us to what."

Haru sighs like he's regretting every single second of conversation with Rin, and seriously, the exasperation is reciprocated. 

"Just keep the cafe running for a couple of hours. I'll be back in the evening so I can take over from there."

"You want us to run your cafe for you?" Rin confirms in disbelief, still wondering if he should've gotten his ears checked this morning.

"Yes. I'll pay the both of you if you want."

"It's not about the money." Rin dismisses above Nagisa's happy chortle of _yes please!_ , frowning. "Where the fuck are you going?"

"I'm not allowed to break into the pool anymore and today is the last day the it's is open for free, so I'm going swimming. Try not to burn my cafe down. Or beat up all my guests."

"Fuck you." Rin snaps hotly. "I'll be sure to trash your place."

"The wifi password is Mackerel123." Haru adds blankly, making no sign to have heard the last comment. Rin groans, running a hand through his hair. 

He's never done jobs like this before. What is he supposed to do now?

As if reading his thoughts, Haru says, "You don't have to make drinks if you can't. Just serve cake and take orders. And make sure Nagisa doesn't eat all my chocolate muffins."

Scowling, Rin decides that Haru owes him big time for this. 

Beside him, Nagisa muffles a giggle, having been conscripted by Haru as well. Unlike Rin, he's settled into his temporary job as a waiter with considerable gusto. 

How Haru manages to run the entire cafe on his own, Rin will never know. 

* * *

Half an hour into the job, Rin is thoroughly regretting having said yes. He's glad he doesn't have to make any drinks, but god, it's only nine in the morning and he's been serving food nonstop. To the weirdest and most irritating of people. (There'd been a boy who flicked his gum onto the counter and Rin wants to cry.) He wipes off the sweat on his forehead just as Nagisa prances by, twirling trays in his hands like a fucking pro.

_How._

You know what, he doesn't even want to question anymore. Rin turns back to the register, suppressing the urge to go ballistic. 

"Next!" he calls without looking up, focused on scraping the kid's stupid gum off Haru's shiny counter. He wonders how much a replacement might cost—Haru'd nearly bankrupted him after the latest mackerel spree, and he's not sure if he can afford anything anymore. 

"I'd like a blueberry muffin, please." a voice pierces through his rambling thoughts, soft yet clear—and it's one that Rin can recognise anywhere. Makoto's voice hits him like a storm, a gentle baritone that messes up the rhythm of his once-steady heartbeat, flipping his world upside down and him along with it.

Rin blinks furiously, blanching where he stands, as bits and pieces of syllables tangle up in his throat. He tries to swallow but he tastes grit and all that comes out is a wretched garbled that makes him want to die on the spot.

"Hello." Makoto says aloud, smiling widely, and despite himself, Rin can't help but mirror that with a small grin of his own.

"Hi."

"It's _you_." the brunette lets out a delighted breath, and Rin can hear the laughter caught up in his chest. His lips quirk to a side, in an amused sort of curve that looks equal parts happy and intrigued. 

"It's me, yeah." he echoes back, completely at a loss of what to say because the guy he's been watching for close to a year now is _actually_  talking to him, and he is so _beautiful_  he steals Rin's breath away with his eyes alone—how is that even possible.

Makoto chuckles, eyes lingering on the tricky piece of gum that, despite Rin's valiant efforts, remains stuck on the counter. "Do you need help with that?"

"What?" Rin splutters, cheeks red hot despite the cool spring wind. "Uh, no. No I don't, thanks."

"Alright then." Makoto's smile never once flickers. He tilts his head slightly, in a way that is almost shy, when he asks, "Did you manage to get my order, by the way? You were kind of busy with the...gum."

"Oh, yeah. One blueberry muffin, right?"

Makoto gives him a cheerful nod. "Also, I'd like the—"

"—lava cake?" Rin can't stop himself from finishing, and Makoto's irises dilate ever so slightly. 

"Oh, yes. Wait, how do you know that?"

"Well," Rin starts, already pulling out a plate, "you may or may not have stolen the last one a while back. It was only one time though."

"I see. I'm sorry." Makoto says, looking a little forlorn as he gazes at said cake, biting his lips in guilt—and for a second he looks like a lost kitten in the rain.

Rin flinches, "No, no! It's okay. Really." 

Their eyes meet at the exact same moment, for the millionth time, and Rin can never get tired of the way morning sunlight refracts in his incandescent irises, shading his face in partial tones of pink and yellow. 

"I'm Rin." he interjects, for lack of anything else to add. His voice trails off when Makoto's smile only grows wider, dimpling the sides of his cheeks.

"Oh. I'm Makoto." he replies, and Rin knows, Rin knows. He's whispered the syllables in Makoto's name enough times to remember how it sounds against his lips. "It's nice to finally meet you, Rin."

There's a bit of silence between them as Makoto hands his money over. Rin fumbles with the coins and nearly drops one into the fudge, muffling a swear.

"By the way, you have really green eyes." he blurts, unable to stop himself, and recoils barely a second later because _really, Matsuoka?_ God, he might as well paint "I'M A CREEPY FUCKER" on his forehead right now, because maybe it would've been _less_  obvious.

He wishes the floor might split open into a gaping maw so he can crawl in and spend the rest of his pathetic life wallowing in his utter failure—because 'you have really green eyes' is just pitiful and _ugh_.

"Oh." Makoto's eyes go wide, and he smiles, suddenly and sweetly, like his birthday's come one month early. "Thank you? It's a family thing."

Hoping hard that he isn't blushing, Rin replies, slipping on his words like walking on wet stones, "Er. No problem."

"You have really nice eyes too."

Okay, he did not see that one coming. Rin blinks hard, trying to process what he'd just heard, because he caught a 'you' and a 'nice' and a 'eyes' and _does he mean I have nice eyes?_

"Uh, thanks. It's a family thing. Too." 

God, he's so completely screwed and he doesn't even know the guy. At least, not personally.

"So uh, I was wondering. If you're not busy after this, maybe we could go grab a bite?" Rin babbles, tightening his grip on the receipt as he hears Makoto start—on the exact same note, "Hey, um, if you're free during the weekend, do you...maybe want to go somewhere?"

They share a communal pause of bated incredulity, gunmetal eyes of scarlet meeting morning green, a duettist hitch of breath, and Rin breaks it with a muffled snort, before bursting into a loud guffaw. Amused by his laughter, Makoto crinkles his eyes into another smile, letting out a pleased chuckle as well. The rich sound vibrates through his throat, heavy and molten in a way that makes Rin's mouth go dry.

"Yes, please." / "Sure!" 

**Author's Note:**

> ;w; I know the entire fic feels really disjointed and I'm sorry! I really am! ;;w;; I thought it'd be funny if Rin and Makoto asked each other out at the exact same time LOL. Personally, I'm really glad I could include some character interactions—not just between Rin and Makoto XD but eh I guess people might find that it interrupts the story?? Idk ;n; even so, I hope ppl enjoyed!! Thank you for reading!


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